Image forming apparatus such as printers, facsimile machines, copy machines, and the like, often include a number of different media paths for processing media. Different media paths are required for duplex printing, finishing operations such as collating, stapling, etc., and simply directing the media out of the image forming apparatus. Diverters are positioned at the intersections to accomplish paper direction to the appropriate media paths.
Diverters may take a variety of forms to direct the media, and in one common embodiment include a movable gate that can move between first and second positions. In the first position, media is diverted to a first media path and in the second position the media is diverted to a second media path. Single gates are effective when diverting media between one of two paths. However, a problem occurs when attempting to divert media to more than two paths.
One solution includes placing two separate diverters in series alignment along the media path with one gate directly behind the other. The first diverter directs the media to either a first or second path, and the second diverter further directs the paper to continue along the second path, or to a third path. A drawback of this design is the additional amount of space necessary for positioning the two diverters. Often times media paths do not have the required amount of space, especially considering the increasing demand for reduced overall sizes of image forming apparatus.
Another drawback of previous diverters is the time necessary for moving the gate or gates between media paths. This movement reduces throughput of the image forming apparatus. Movement of the gates between the various media paths should not negatively impact the maximum throughput of the image forming apparatus. Additionally, the diverter should not be a cause of media jams within the image forming apparatus.
The present invention is directed to a diverter comprising a pair of gates aligned in an overlapping arrangement. Each of the gates may be movable between up and down positions, and each gate may be biased towards one of the positions. A first actuator may be movably positioned to contact one of the gates and move it from the down position to the up position. A second actuator may operatively contact the second gate to move it from the down position to the up position. A first media path may be formed by both gates being in the down position caused by the force of the biasing members. A second media path may be formed by the first actuator contacting the first gate and moving it to the up position. Because of the overlapping arrangement, movement of the first gate may cause the second gate to also move to the up position. Therefore, the actuator may effectively move both gates from the down to the up position. A third media path may be formed when the first gate is in the down position by the biasing member while the second actuator may act on the second gate to move it to the up position.